


Forward in the Snow

by Elleth



Series: Ladies Bingo 2017 [2]
Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Missing Scene, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-18 21:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12396450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elleth/pseuds/Elleth
Summary: A moment between Sigrun and Tuuri as the Cat-tank crawls through snowy Copenhagen.





	Forward in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> For [Ladies Bingo 2017](https://ladiesbingo.dreamwidth.org/), prompt: Winter. Set around page 379 or thereabouts.

"It's pretty, isn't it? Kind of makes you forget all the deadness and grosslings." 

Sigrun gestured at the city street opening wide before the cockpit window - an old-world boulevard or something fancy like it, with Copenhagen's pretty inner-city buildings on either side in the snowfall. Tuuri hadn't answered her yet when Sigrun slunk down onto the passenger bench, and stuck her feet on the back of the driver's seat. It was enough for Tuuri to almost swerve the cat-tank into a crumbling building. 

"Eeee," she squeaked, tearing the wheel around just in time, though a scraping sound from overhead made it sound like one of the floodlights hadn't been quite so lucky. In the passenger seat, Lalli slept on: Sigrun doubted the almost-collision had woken anything else. 

"Ah, well," she said, shrugging. They were crawling through the Silent World in a rustbucket a few days in, those weren't the first scratches - and wouldn't be the last their vehicle would get, knowing cities for what they were even if the weather made them appear innocuous. 

"Sorry. But… y-yeah. I like it," Tuuri breathed, her voice hushed as she glanced back at Sigrun from the corner of her eye. "I've never seen a city before." Sigrun wondered what she really was referring to. "Or - at least not a city like Copenhagen, and never one in the Silent World, except when we had to go through old Pori on the boat, and that all got burned down, so it wasn't much to look at." Tuuri blushed.

Sigrun laughed. "You're rambling. Don't let me get you nervous, Fuzzy-head. Or the world. If anything tries to get to us, it'll have to deal with the cold and snow first, and then there's me. I'm not letting anything muss a hair on your head, except if I'm the one who gets to do it. Acceptable? And you'll see plenty of city yet." 

"Okay." A grin crossed Tuuri's face, half hidden by the reflection on her mask. In the distorted mirror images of the city, the magicked-up kitten grin that she'd painted onto the mouthplate shimmered briefly. "And it's really nice. I keep thinking about the history of these buildings, and who lived here, and what it was like. There's some buildings a bit like this in old-town Keuruu - I used to… play there; it's inside the walls, though not in the civilian quarters. Onni always had a fit when he caught us - _me!_ \- but then I never really thought about exploring when I was there, it was for… other things." 

"Playing with…?" Sigrun leaned back onto her crossed arms on the backrest of the bench. It'd be useless to even try and keep a grin off her face. 

"Ieva, that's her name. And some other people after she left for Ontojärvi, but mostly Ieva. She's a scout, a day-scout. And she didn't really have a say where she got transferred. But we got separated once already - in Saimaa as a kid I lived on a neighbouring island to hers, and then later she came to Keuruu a few years after I'd gotten there." 

"Friend? Girlfriend?" Sigrun asked, though seeing Tuuri's face she no longer felt like teasing. Getting to know a new team of hers better sometimes involved not doing that.

"Friend…? Now, anyway," Tuuri said, concentrating on the road a little harder than she had to. Snow had started falling, and the flakes came thicker by the minute. She fumbled for the windshield wipers, and finally found the on switch. "Maybe we'll wash up in the same place again together, and maybe then it'll be back to… the other thing." She bit her lip and glanced down at her hands on the wheel.

"Hey, not judging!" Sigrun said, lifting her hands. "Not as long as you don't get so distracted you don't drive us into a ditch, or another building, or total this thing. I don't really feel like walking. And anyway, I _can't_ judge. Dagny would hit me in the head with one of her casts. She kept them just for that." 

The tank lurched. The motor stalled. Tuuri was bright red. 

"Y-you?" 

"So what about it?" Sigrun swatted at the twinge of irritation, and it wasn't just about the snow. Tuuri was a girl and inexperienced. She'd calm down in a few more days, hopefully. Sigrun huffed. "You and me both, I just figure life's too short and hard to be picky and not have fun, though if I had to I'd pick her over again. Except me she's the best Captain in Dalsnes, and she's the only one who's ever beaten me at sparring. And we've known each other forever; she's gotten me out of some things." 

"That… sounds nice." Tuuri fumbled with the ignition, and let out a breath of relief when the tank jumped back to life, continuing into the heart of the city, quietly and focused on the road. The snow came down so thick now that the wipers barely did their work. It was cushioning things and hiding the debris and broken cars that littered the roads, throwing the cockpit into a half-light. One by one the rest of the team filed in, including the braided troll-bait. Not that much more room for conversation, especially not when Mikkel sat down next to Sigrun. Tuuri seemed to think the same; they lapsed into silence.

Sigrun was glad for the distraction, though. Any more - any more snow, any more talk - and they'd get stuck and have to backtrack. 

None of that. They'd go forward as long as they could, and that was that.


End file.
